System and method for mapping and comparing choroplethic housing statistics

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a mapping and comparing choroplethic housing statistics. In one example, this comprises accessing property data corresponding to a geospatial area. Analytics are used to generate usable property data statistics from the accessed property data. A thematic map image based on the usable property data statistics is then generated according to comparison categories, so that the thematic map image may be displayed.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application is a Continuation Application of the U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/599,009, filed Aug. 30, 2012, U.S. Pat. No. 9,311,726 to beissued on Apr. 12, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This application relates generally to comparing statistical data on thehousing market with geospatial mapping.

2. Description of the Related Art

Housing market information purchased from housing market entities (suchas, Mortgage Brokers Association and First American CoreLogic) is usedto analyze housing market trends. Further, maps specially designed toshow particular housing market trends connected with specific geographicareas may sometimes be created and viewed individually to analyzehousing market trends. However, because housing market informationitself does not present coherent and readily attainable statisticswithout further manipulation and because such maps are subject togeographic and comparison limitations, a comprehensive multiple thematicmap approach is needed to interpret statistical housing data concerninggeographic areas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mapping and comparing choroplethichousing statistics. In one example, this comprises accessing propertydata corresponding to a geospatial area. Analytics may be used togenerate usable property data statistics from the accessed propertydata. A thematic map image based on the usable property data statisticsis then generated according to comparison categories, so that thethematic map image may be displayed.

The described invention may be embodied in various forms, includingbusiness processes, computer implemented methods, computer programproducts, computer systems and networks, user interfaces, applicationprogramming interfaces, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other more detailed and specific features of the described aremore fully disclosed in the following specification, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A-B are display diagrams illustrating examples of displays by achoroplethic comparison application;

FIGS. 2A-B are block diagrams illustrating examples of a choroplethiccomparison application;

FIGS. 3A-B are block diagrams illustrating examples of systems in whicha choroplethic comparison application operates;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a choroplethiccomparison process; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a choroplethiccomparison process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousdetails are set forth, such as flowcharts and system configurations, toprovide an understanding of one or more embodiments. However, it is andwill be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific detailsare not required to practice the described invention.

Financial and housing market information itself does not presentcoherent and readily attainable statistics without further manipulation.The present invention relates to fitting housing market data,derivations from housing market data, and other statistics relevant tothe housing market to defined geospatial areas. Specifically, thisinvention allows users to create maps and tables using any availabledata to clearly illustrate unique geographic patterns that would nototherwise be visible using the financial and housing market data alone.

Further, users may be able to simultaneously produce on a single displayscreen at different levels of aggregation thematic maps, which is a typeof map or chart designed to show a particular theme connected with aspecific geographic area, and choroplethic maps, which is a type ofthematic map in which areas may be shaded or patterned in proportion tothe measurement of the statistical variable being displayed on the map.

Furthermore, users may be able to combine geospatial mapping withfinancial and housing market statistical data to produce correspondingtables. Financial and housing market data may also be added to thetables in accordance with aggregation levels (e.g. geographicaggregation levels such as region, state, metropolitan statistical area(MSA), county, zip code, and census tract). The table data may furtherbe selected and displayable using color coded rankings, in accordancewith thematic and choroplethic maps. The rankings displayed may be basedon the user-selected number of ranks (e.g. five or ten) and designatedregions (e.g. national region or within a parent geographic region).Thus, users may be able to compare an multiple maps at the same timewhile viewing multiple financial indicators and tables in support ofhousing market decision-making.

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for mappingand comparing choroplethic housing statistics includes accessingdatabase information containing property data, such as demographic,economic, and lending information used in the housing market (e.g.financial and housing market data). The database information generallycorresponds to geospatial areas; however, when information necessary formapping and comparing choroplethic housing statistics does not possessthis correspondence, the method may interpolate such correspondence. Inaddition, the geospatial areas, which relate to specific geographicregions or statistical regions, is alterable at anytime during useroperation.

After accessing the database information, analytics that ensureusability of the property data may be performed on the property data.Whether before, during, or after the property data is “cleaned,” themethod may also perform analytics on the property data to derivestatistics that may not be directly reported by the property dataregions. For example, derived statistics may be summary statistics suchas calculating an average home price for a given region. Althoughdifferent calculations may be employed, it is preferred that a mean ormedian is used for given values in each region.

Next, the available data (i.e. the usable property data) is used togenerate and display thematic maps. Preferably, the available data isused to generate a thematic map based on dispersing within theaggregation levels the data according to a selected comparison categoryacross the geospatial area. The thematic maps may also be generated bycombining previously generated maps to derive new thematic maps thatdisplay data not shown by the previously generated maps. In addition tothe thematic maps, choroplethic maps may also be generated in accordancewith at least one of a set of comparison categories (e.g., Roll Rates,SDQs, and Delinquent Loans). The comparison categories will use colorcodes to display patterned areas in proportion to the statistics. Themethod also supports display of multiple maps with unique filters foreach map, and a new map may be generated whenever the filters arechanged. The displaying of multiple maps may be in any orientation, suchas side-by-side or over-under. Yet, it is preferred that a side-by-sideorientation is a default implementation where each map has an equivalentsize and it is also preferred that when a new map is created theexisting maps resize to accommodate the addition of the new map forsimultaneous comparison.

Furthermore, the method will generate tables that combine the geospatialarea and the property data statistics and that correspond to thethematic maps. Thus, all calculations that have already been performedfor the thematic maps will be part of respective tables. In addition,after a table is generated, additional property data may be added to thetable in accordance with the aggregation levels. The integration betweenthe maps and tables will be performed so that in response to clicking onparticular locations in a map, a table or graph showing a comparisonbetween the mapped statistical values at the selected locale (and otherselected parent statistics) is displayed. Additionally, the table orgraph will display more locations as additional lines are generated withthe numbers of other locations as these locations are clicked.

A preferred way of implementing the above example is to use a mobileapplication installed on a terminal computer for thematic map and tablegeneration as described above. However, a terminal computer is not theonly contemplated computer system. Any computer system, such as a laptoppersonal computer or a handheld portable computer (i.e., tablets, PDAs,cell phones, mobile phones, smart-phones, super-phones, etc.) may beimplemented. Further, the functions described herein may be implementedon any conventional computing or electronic device, such as personalcomputer, conventional desktop computer, a network computer, or any ofthe various execution environments that will be readily apparent to theartisan and need not be named herein.

The computer system runs any conventional operating system through theinteraction of the CPU (or GPU) and the memory to carry out thedescribed functionality by execution of computer instructions. Operatingsystems may include but are not limited to iOS, Android, Windows, Unix,Linux, Macintosh, or the like. The computer system may further implementapplications that facilitate calculations. The memory may be any memorysuitable for storing data, such as any volatile or non-volatile memory,whether virtual or permanent, or any other non-transitory computerreadable medium (i.e., compact disk, hard disk, etc.). Preferably, thememory stores the choroplethic comparison application, which comprisesprogram code that is executable by the processor to perform operationsin support of supplying automatic promotions to the user. Therefore, theapplication is preferably provided as software on the computer systemdescribed above, yet it may alternatively be hardware, firmware, or anycombination of software, hardware, and firmware. Still other embodimentsinclude computer implemented processes described in connection withFIGS. 3A-B through 5.

The artisan will readily recognize the various alternative programminglanguages and execution platforms that are and will become available,and the described is not limited to any specific execution environment.The mapping and comparing choroplethic housing statistics features willnow be described in further detail through the below examples.

The choroplethic comparison application includes program code executableby the terminal computer to perform operations for thematic map andtable generation as described above. The choroplethic comparisonapplication gathers data concerning the housing market and inserts thedata into a database. Then, the choroplethic comparison applicationperforms analytics on the data to ensure usability or to derivestatistics that may not be directly reported. Note, the uppermost levelof the choroplethic comparison application allows new maps to becreated, provides a function to arrange all current maps, allows linksshowing all current maps to be sent via e-mail, and creates bookmarks inbrowsers for any link that is be e-mailed.

After the choroplethic comparison application generates a new map, thenew map window has a menu that allows control over which geographicaland statistical regions may be displayed in the map, which statistics orderived calculations will be compared in those regions, whether five orten bins (color codes or patterns) will be used in the map, and whichmonth's data should be used. Statistical regions may be any geographicregion, with the most common being states, counties, and zip codes, andstatistical regions may use arbitrary boundaries that take on any shape.Maps may also compare regions by different criteria utilizing color codeassignations. Thus, although counties in one state may be coloredrelative to counties nationally by default, counties may also be coloredrelative to counties in their respective state.

FIGS. 1A-B are display diagrams illustrating examples of displaysgenerated by a choroplethic comparison application. FIG. 1A is a displaygenerated by the choroplethic comparison application where threeseparate maps are generated corresponding to the United States withStates colored according to national “Roll Rate” rankings 101, toFlorida with counties colored according to in State “Roll Rate” rankings102, and to Florida with Census Tracts colored according to in State“Roll Rate” rankings 103 (different colors are indicated as differentpatterns in the figures). FIG. 1A illustrates simultaneous display ofmultiple maps, each with different characteristics and different timeperiods, generated from the clean and new data. These maps actindependently of each other and may be capable of allowing a user tocompare a statistic over times or regions while showing multiplestatistics. Further, the multiple maps 101, 102, and 103 have uniquefilters that alter the choroplethic patterns whenever the filters may bechanged.

FIG. 1B is a display diagram illustrating a display generated by thechoroplethic comparison application where three separate mapscorresponding to the United States with States colored according tonational “Roll Rates” rankings 104, to the United States with Statescolored according to national “SDQ” rankings 106, and to the UnitedStates with States colored according to national “Delinquent Loan”rankings 108. The choroplethic comparison application is also configuredto receive a selection of a number of buckets or bins into which theproperty data statistics may be divided, with a corresponding thematicmap image being displayed according to the selected number of bins. Thisallows the user to customize the level of granularity at which the mapimage will distinguish geographic areas according to where they rank orreside according to selectable property data statistics. For example,the illustrated maps (and those illustrated in FIG. 1A) were designatedto have 10 bins to display the choroplethic patterns. That is, the 10bins fit the relative housing market data regarding “Roll Rates”rankings, national “SDQ” rankings, and national “Delinquent Loan”rankings into the national and state geospatial areas.

Further, since the choroplethic comparison application displays graphsbased on locations selected within each map, graphs of the market datavalues may be created by clicking on a particular colored region. Thatis, Roll Rate Graph 105 includes line graphs illustrating the Roll Rateover time for selected regions or locations. In United States Map 104,the locations of California, Nation (the United States as a whole),Texas, Nevada, and Florida were selected and thus their respective linegraphs are displayed on Roll Rate Graph 105. Similarly, California,Nation, Texas, Nevada, and Florida were selected on United States Map106 to produce SDQ Graph 107, while California and Nation were selectedon United States Map 108 to produce Delinquent Loan Graph 109. For anyone of the graphs 105, 107, and 109, additional regions may be added tothe graph by clicking on them after that graph window has been opened.

Accordingly, the graphs and maps (104-109) may be simultaneouslyproduced on a single display screen at different levels of aggregation,and users may combine the selectable regions of the maps and selectabletrends shown on the graphs with other statistical data to producecorresponding maps, graphs, and tables to illustrate additional trendsand patterns within the geographic areas. Further, additional financialand housing market data may then be added to those tables in accordancewith aggregation levels, such as property data that has been cleaned orensured as usable. Thus, in each display generated by the choroplethiccomparison application, the maps, graphs, and tables may be integratedso that they perform further statistical generations, which may bedisplayed thematically, in response to clicking on particular locationsin the maps, tables, or graphs. For instance, the state of Texas may beclicked on in each map 104, 106, and 108 to generate a graph thatdepicts the corresponding statistical trends for the state of Texas.

In addition, the choroplethic comparison application may examine housingdata and summarize any number of statistics for display. Thus, althoughonly a few statistics have been identified via FIGS. 1A-B, thechoroplethic comparison application may analyze and summarize data usingthe hundreds of statistics available to the choroplethic comparisonapplication.

FIGS. 2A-B are block diagrams illustrating examples of a choroplethiccomparison application. Specifically, FIG. 2A is a block diagramillustrating an example of an electronic device 210 that comprises achoroplethic comparison application 200A stored on a memory 212 andstoring program code that is executable by a central processing unit(CPU) 211 to perform operations of accessing property data, producingusable data, and generating maps and tables, as described above.Alternatively, the electronic device 210 may be any of the computersystems described above, and further the choroplethic comparisonapplication 200A may be implemented in any of the systems (350A and350B) described below. Further, the choroplethic comparison application200A is preferably provided as software, but may alternatively beprovided as hardware or firmware, or any combination of software,hardware and/or firmware.

The application 200A is configured to provide the functionality ofaccessing property data, producing usable data, and generating maps andtables through the modules listed below. The example of the application200A of FIG. 2A includes a property data access module 202, an analyticsmodule 203, a map image module 204, and a property data grid module 205.Although one modular breakdown of the application 200A is offered, itshould be understood that the same functionality may be provided usingfewer, greater, or differently named modules. Additionally, thefunctionality of application 200A and the modules respective to thatfunctionality may be provided on different devices, as individualsoftware applications, or a combination of different devices andindividual software applications, which is further described herein.

The property data access module 202 includes program code for carryingout access to and management of the property data, whether from internalor external resources.

The analytics module 203 includes program code for applying analyticsthat ensure the usability of the property data and to derive statisticsthat may not be directly reported by the property data regions.

The map image module 204 includes program code for accessing mappingfunctions, for displaying a map image corresponding to the geospatialarea, and for managing the depiction of the map images and graphsindicative of the subject property data, as well as rankings andpatterns. Further, the map image module 204 may display the propertydata within the defined geographic area with demarcations of the definedgeographic area (e.g., highlighted boundaries) as the neighborhood ofinterest. The neighborhood may be defined by inclusion within auser-defined shape, exclusion of a user-defined shape from a previouslydefined geographic area, the set of properties within a given distancefrom a location, properties corresponding to a tract or adjacent tracts,or properties currently displayed on a map image (which may bemanipulated as desired, prior to user indication to lock in the definedarea).

The property data grid/DB module 205 includes program code for managingthe data set corresponding to a current session, including the usableand derived property data. It is configured as a database that allowsthe property data for the properties to be displayed in a tabular orgrid format, with various sorting according to the propertycharacteristics, economic distance, geographical distance, time, etc.

In another embodiment, FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating anexample of a choroplethic comparison application 200B that is externalto a terminal 209, which accesses the functionality of the choroplethiccomparison application 200B. That is, a user device or a terminalcomputer may act as a terminal 209 where through either web browsing ormobile application technology the application 200B is configured to runin the context of a server or host functionality. Further, theapplication 200B at least includes an aggregation module 206, a userinterface module 207, and an application programmable interface module208. Furthermore, the application 200B may include any of the othermodules listed in FIG. 2A. It should be understood that the samefunctionality may be provided using fewer, greater, or differently namedmodules, and the named these modules may be integrated with any of theother named modules.

In FIG. 2B, the aggregation module 206 includes program code forcombining previously generated maps to derive new thematic maps thatdisplay data not shown by the previously generated maps.

The user interface module 207 includes program code for managing thedisplay and receipt of information from a user to provide the describedfunctionality. The user interface module 207 permits user management ofthe thematic and choroplethic maps, corresponding tables, and propertydata. Further, the user interface module permits the application 200A tobe displayed in a map, menu, icon, tabular, or grid format, with variousfunctional representations according to a module's requiredfunctionality. That is, the user interface is configured to providemapping and analytical tools that implement the choroplethic comparisonapplication's mapping features to display bins (color codes) acrossgeospatial areas to show patterns. Thus, although counties in one statemay be colored relative to counties nationally by default, counties mayalso be colored relative to counties in their state. Further, mappingfeatures include the capability to display the boundaries of ondifferent aggregation levels. Additionally, a table or grid of data mayconcurrently be displayable so that the property data and derived datamay be viewed and sorted based on any desired dimension. Additionally,the rows in the table may be connected to the full database entry aswell as the graphs and maps. Thus, combined with the map view, the userinterface module 207 allows for a convenient yet comprehensiveinteractive analysis of the derived statistics and property data.

The application programmable interface module 208 is configured tocommunicate directly with other applications, modules, models, devices,and other sources through both physical and virtual interfaces. Theapplication programmable interface module 208 manages the dispatchingand receipt of information in relation to the above sources and sourcesexternal to the application along with integrating the application 200Awith other applications and drivers, as needed per operating system.Note, each above describe module and its functionality is furtherdescribed in connection with FIGS. 3-5 below.

FIGS. 3A-B are block diagrams illustrating examples of systems in whicha choroplethic comparison application operates. Specifically, FIG. 3 isblock diagram illustrating an example of a system 350A in which thechoroplethic comparison applications 300 a-c operate. FIG. 3A furtherillustrates several devices 310 a-c, each having the choroplethiccomparison applications 300 a-c installed thereon (see also FIG. 2A-B).The devices 310 a-c are preferably terminal computers, but mayalternatively be any of the computer systems described above. Similarly,the network 340 over which the devices 310 a-c (through theirinterfaces, which are not shown) communicate preferably is a local areanetwork; however, it may alternatively be any conventional networkingtechnology. For instance, the network may be any of the technologies ofcellular, global area network, wireless local area networks, wide areanetworks, local area networks, or combinations thereof, but is notlimited to. Further, the interfaces of the devices 310 a-c may be anyinterface suited for input and output of communication data, whetherthat communication is visual, auditory, electrical, transitive, or thelike.

FIG. 3B is an illustrated alternative where client devices 309 a-c mayrespectively access a device 310 d (see also FIG. 2A-B), preferablythrough direct application linking, with the device 310 d providing thechoroplethic comparison application 300 d for access by the clientdevices 309 a-c. In this embodiment, the device 310 d is preferably aserver providing application access to and computing power for use byclient devices 309 a-c (i.e. smartphones). This would reduce theresource requirements on the client side and enhance efficiency of thesystem 350B. However, as another alternative, the functionality of thechoroplethic comparison application 300 d may be divided between theclient devices 309 a-c and the device 310 d, where either function maybe located separately on either device and accessed through distributedcomputing, such that the functionality is provided for, shared, andrelied upon by other devices. For instance, the analytics module 203 andthe property data access module 202 may be located on a device 310 d,such as a server, while the map image module 204 may be located on aclient device 309 a, such as a tablet PC, and in support of the clientdevice 309 a generating a map image using the map image module 204, theclient device 309 a accesses through a network 340 the functionality ofthe analytics module 203 and the property data access module 202 on thedevice 310 d. Finally, of course, a single computing device may beindependently configured to include the entire functionality of thechoroplethic comparison application 300 d.

Additionally, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A-B, market resources 320 areshown as a singular block in the figure, but it should be understoodthat the singular block represents a variety of resources, includingfinancial intuition databases, MLS listings, GIS data, or resourcescompiled by an information services provider (i.e. tax assessors, otherappraising services, and the like). Further, market resources 320 aretypically accessed externally for use by the applications, since theamount of property data is rather voluminous, and since the applicationis configured to allow access to multiple housing resource databases.The application accesses and retrieves the market data from theseresources in support of illustrating non-obvious geographic patternsthat would not otherwise be visible using the financial and housingmarket data alone.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a choroplethiccomparison process. Specifically, FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustratingan example of the choroplethic comparison process 400 that describes onepossible operation sequence for the applications 200A and 200B.

Specifically, the choroplethic comparison process 400 begins byaccessing 401 the property data corresponding to an identifiedgeospatial area. The geospatial area may be defined by an automaticneighborhood of interest selection or by user designated regions. Next,the process 400 performs 402 usability and derivation calculations onthe accessed property data to clean and prepare the data for patterndisplay. Once the property data is ‘ready,’ the process 400 generatesand displays 403 thematic maps using patterns based on the derivationsand usable property data. Then, whether through automatic generation oruser indication, the process 400 generates and displays 404 interactivetables or graphs corresponding to the thematic maps.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a choroplethiccomparison process. Specifically, FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustratingan example of the choroplethic comparison process 500 that describes onepossible operation sequence for the applications 200A and 200B.

Specifically, the choroplethic comparison process 500 begins byaccessing 501 financial and housing market data relative to differentaggregation levels as defined above. Then, usability and derivationcalculations are performed 502 on the accessed financial and housingmarket data. The process 500 then generates 503 thematic maps andcorresponding tables based on the derivations and usable data. Next, bycombining and comparing the thematic maps previously generated, theprocess 500 may generate choroplethic maps detailing patterns based onsaid combined and compared thematic maps while generating thecorresponding tables. Alternatively, instead of progressing to thegeneration of choroplethic maps, the process 500 may skip to displaying505 the generated thematic maps and corresponding tables, as in FIG. 4.

Thus, embodiments of the described produce and provide methods andapparatus for a model for providing real-time location-based promotionsto a vehicle purchaser without the need for additional post-purchasedecision conversations and signing ceremonies. Although the described isdetailed considerably above with reference to certain embodimentsthereof, the invention may be variously embodied without departing fromthe spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the following claimsshould not be limited to the description of the embodiments containedherein in any way.

1-19. (canceled)
 20. A method for mapping and comparing choroplethichousing statistics, comprising: accessing property data corresponding toa geospatial area to generate property data statistics; generating,according to at least one of a set of comparison categories, a thematicmap image based on dispersing the property data statistics across thegeospatial area in accordance with an aggregation level; and displayingon a display device the thematic map image.
 21. The method of claim 20,wherein the geospatial area is alterable based on an identifiedstatistical region.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein property dataincludes financial and housing market data, and wherein accessingproperty data includes gathering financial and housing market data froman external database.
 23. The method of claim 20, wherein dispersing theproperty data statistics comprises utilizing a set of bins that identifya rank for sections of the aggregation level.
 24. The method of claim23, wherein the thematic map image includes a set of choroplethichousing statistic map images displaying pattern areas that are patternedin proportion to the set of bins.
 25. The method of claim 24, whereindisplaying on a display device the thematic map image includesdisplaying the set of choroplethic housing statistic map images in aside-by-side orientation.
 26. The method of claim 20, wherein whensection of the aggregation levels within the thematic map image isselected, a new thematic map image is generated and displayed.
 27. Themethod of claim 26, wherein the new thematic map image is generated anddisplayed in a side-by-side orientation with the thematic map image, andwherein the thematic map image resizes to accommodate the side-by-sideorientation.
 28. The method of claim 20, further comprising: performinganalytics on the property data to generate the property data statisticsincluding deriving statistics that are not directly reported by theproperty data.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein performing analyticsfurther includes performing a usability calculation on the property datato produce clean statistics.
 30. The method of claim 20, wherein thethematic map image includes a set of choroplethic housing statistic mapimages that are subjected to an identified time range.
 31. The method ofclaim 20, further comprising: generating a table corresponding to thethematic map image.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein generating thetable is based on combining the geospatial area and the property datastatistics, and wherein, after the table is generated, additionalproperty data is added to the table in accordance with the aggregationlevels.
 33. The method of claim 20, wherein the aggregation levelsinclude the geographic aggregation levels of region, state, metropolitanstatistical area, county, zip code, and census tract.
 34. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing program code executableby a processor to perform operations comprising: accessing property datacorresponding to a geospatial area to generate property data statistics;generating, according to at least one of a set of comparison categories,a thematic map image based on dispersing the property data statisticsacross the geospatial area in accordance with an aggregation level; anddisplaying on a display device the thematic map image.
 35. The computerreadable medium of claim 34, wherein the geospatial area is alterablebased on an identified statistical region.
 36. The computer readablemedium of claim 34, wherein property data includes financial and housingmarket data, and wherein accessing property data includes gatheringfinancial and housing market data from an external database.
 37. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 34, wherein dispersing the propertydata statistics comprises utilizing a set of bins that identify a rankfor sections of the aggregation level.
 38. The computer readable mediumof claim 37, wherein the thematic map image includes a set ofchoroplethic housing statistic map images displaying pattern areas thatare patterned in proportion to the set of bins.
 39. The computerreadable medium of claim 38, wherein displaying on a display device thethematic map image includes displaying the set of choroplethic housingstatistic map images in a side-by-side orientation.